Oct. 16 is date for UPS public hearing in Lower Swatara Township on whether it can build hub

The date for the mandatory Lower Swatara Township UPS regional hub public hearing has been determined.

At the Sept. 6 workshop meeting, the board of commissioners approved Monday, Oct. 16, at 7 p.m., as the date and time for the hearing. UPS officials had suggested the previous week of the ninth, but a date could not be selected during that week that would allow enough time for all proper notification of the meeting or would work for all parties, including the Lower Swatara Fire Company, which was selected as the host site.

Given the date of the hearing, a decision by the board regarding the hub could be made as early as the board’s Oct. 18 legislative meeting, which would be the Wednesday following the public hearing.

In June, UPS officials approached the Lower Swatara Board of Commissioners about plans to build a 935,000-square foot regional hub facility in the northeastern corner of the township in a mineral recovery district. About 600 trucks would use Pennsylvania 283, Pennsylvania 441 and other nearby roads daily if the facility is built, according to a previous UPS presentation.

Because plans called for construction in a mineral recovery district, a zoning text change is required to allow UPS to construct the facility in the area. A public hearing is necessary because of the zoning text change.

UPS hosted an informational meeting July 20 to allow the public to hear the proposal and ask questions. The biggest issues that were raised at that meeting regarded traffic, health impacts on residents, and loss of farmland.

Both the Dauphin County Planning Commission and the Lower Swatara Township Board of Commissioners approved the zoning text change on Aug. 7 and Aug. 24 respectively. Now the final step is the public hearing, before the township board of commissioners decides whether to approve the project.

Also at the meeting, the board approved $7,342.64 for six X26-P Tasers, holsters, and batteries for police. These will replace current X26 models.

Lower Swatara Police Department acting chief Sgt. Scott Young had requested enough money for seven Tasers and accessories, but reduced the total to six, due to the arrival of a bill for the iCloud account for a traffic sign used for speeding. Young said he would request for the remaining Tasers in next year’s budget.

Each Taser costs $964, and each holder costs $57.04 and with the cost of additional accessories, the total cost for one Taser would be about $1,200.